CSCG Procedures: Contents

A. CSCG Procedures For Civil Society Appointments

The role of CSCG is to ensure a co-ordinated civil society response and conduit when it comes to making civil society appointments to outside bodies.
The following is the procedure which CSCG follows when a request for civil society appointments is received.

1. CSCG may be involved in nominations when requested to do so by either one of its members or by an outside organisation requesting CS involvement. When such a request is received, CSCG will clarify what has been requested and, in a case where CS already has representation, consult with existing representatives in clarifying the involvement required.

2. CSCG may be involved in appointments of CS representatives when

no more than 1/3 of its coalition members oppose to participate (that is, 2/3 are in favor or neutral or undecided or abstain), and

where the number in favor is greater than the number opposing (others may be neutral or undecided or abstain).

Where coalition members choose not to be involved and a decision to proceed is made, their
decision to do so will be announced (if they so wish) as part of any announcement of chosen
representatives. The decision to be involved or not is the primary responsibility of each
constituency.

3. Any CSCG member who wishes to be eligible for selection as part of any process must announce that intention before a nomcom is formed, and may nominate another representative of their coalition to take their place on the Nomcom.

4. The CSCG Nomcom will determine selection criteria for any appointments and announce them as part of a call for candidates.

5. The CSCG Nomcom will determine and manage a timetable for the process.

6. A separate CSCG mailing list will be established for each nomination process.

7. Unless otherwise determined by CSCG members, each coalition will issue its own call for candidates, specifying the central email address where all nominations will be received. CSCG members will circulate the call as widely as possible, to encourage participation from all sectors of civil society.

8. Where time permits and as appropriate, candidates may be asked to address selection criteria in their nominations.

9. The CSCG Nomcom will consist of one voting member per coalition and a non voting chair, (with the exception of representatives of coalitions who choose not to participate in a particular process).

10. The Nomcom will set appropriate procedures for making its selections.
Unless circumstances suggest otherwise, the selection should begin with
a shortlisting process, which will assist in identifying candidates who
best fit the criteria. Following the shortlisting, Nomcom members will select the final
candidates, using online exchanges and if necessary conference linkups.

11. All members of the Nomcom are required to consider the interests of civil society as a whole in determining appropriate representatives.

12. All Nomcoms will take into account geographic and gender balance in determining their final selections, while considering also the need for the breadth of viewpoints/worldviews represented within civil society to be represented. While complete balance may not be possible for every selection, CSCG NonCom members need to take into account current/standing civil society representations in making selections, with an objective of achieving balance over a period of time.

13. As soon as possible after the close of nominations, the CSCG NomCom
will send to the CSGC mailing list the names and affiliations and proffered
nomination information of all candidates that it will consider in its
deliberations. As soon as possible after the end of the NomCom process, the
CSCG NomCom will send to the CSCG mailing list the names and affiliations
and proffered information for the candidates that it selected. The CSCG will
make public the information referred to above both for the proffered
nominations and for the selected candidates.

14. The decision of the Nomcom is final. The records of each Nomcom will be destroyed six months after the process is completed.

B. Membership and Chair Procedures

MEMBERSHIP PROCEDURES: The model of CSCG is a “coalition of coalitions”. Global or regional
civil society coalitions who are interested in membership should consult the separate
procedure for new members (below) or contact the CSCG for more information.

MEMBER REPRESENTATIVES: Each coalition member has two (2) representatives, chosen according
to their own internal processes, on the CSCG. Each representative serves a term of two years,
staggered so that there is an annual replacement of one representative per
coalition. Representatives can serve two consecutive terms, but must then stand down for at
least 12 months before being eligible for further selection. Replenishment should take place
in September of each calendar year. (Note: For the initial establishment of member
representatives in 2016, each coalition should nominate which of its members should serve a
two year term, and which a one year term. Any time served prior to 2016 does not count in new
procedures being adopted.)

The duties of members are to:

Consider the interests of civil society as a whole.

Serve on Nomcoms regularly as required.

Communicate with their coalitions on CSCG developments.

CHAIR STRUCTURE: A Chair, and up to 2 Co-chairs, will be selected by CSCG member representatives for two year terms. Each September (as necessary when chair and co-chair member terms expire), the CSCG members will select Chairs and Co-chairs. It is up to the CSCG to determine whether Chairs and Co-chairs are selected from the CSCG membership, or whether mutually agreed to representatives from broader civil society are approached to take on these tasks. Where an elected Chair is a coalition representative, the coalition will be given the option to nominate a replacement representative.

C. Procedures for New Members

Membership of CSCG is open to global and regional coalitions of civil
society organisations. Coalitions interested in becoming new members of the
CSCG are requested to provide the following information.

​​1. Mission/objectives and members of the coalition

2. A statement explaining why the coalition wants to join CSCG and what it
can contribute to the CSCG's principles.

3. A description of the coalition’s involvement in internet governance
(issues/domains of expertise, geographical work -
regional/sub-regional/global)

4. Optional: any additional information in support of the application (A
reference or recommendation from a current CSCG member or another
organisation known to CSCG members; the umbrella organization or the legal
status of the organisation, etc.)

All membership applications submitted (except those which can be immediately
rejected as trivial or non-admissable) will be made available via CSCG
member coalitions for public comments prior to CSCG making a determination
on the applications.

The following review criteria for new coalition admission will be considered
by the CSCG members.

1. The coalition is a bona fide civil society organisation with active
members regionally or globally. The coalition is sufficiently large and
representative to justify its inclusion.

2. The coalition has a clear statement of objectives, mission, and interests
that it represents, which explains who the coalition's constituencies are, on whose behalf it engages, and whose interests it aims to represent. Its funding is transparent with details publicly available.

3. The coalition provides representation for civil society members who are under-represented. The organisations and people
should be such as are not already well-represented in other coalitions that are
existing members of CSCG.

4. The coalition is actively involved in or affected by Internet governance
matters. However for potential members which are not focused primarily on
Internet related topics, the part of the coalition which deals with Internet
related topics is what will be looked at.

5. The coalition has a clear and well-documented governance structure. Such
a governance structure must clearly exhibit that decisions are taken by
means of a process that encourages and enables the active participation of
all its members.

6. The coalition is likely to be viable for the foreseeable future.

The consensus decision taken by the CSCG regarding the admission of the new
coalition as a CSCG member will be made public on the CSCG website.

Note: The continued involvement of all member coalitions will be the subject
of regular review by CSCG, or when circumstances suggest that the
involvement may no longer be appropriate.